D'Angelo Plays First U.S. Show in 12 Years at Bonnaroo
D’Angelo returned to the stage and how sweet it was. The reclusive singer made his first live U.S. appearance in 12 years at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.
“I’ve been waiting 12 years to say this—ladies and gentlemen, D’Angelo!” said Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, who introduced his friend during his Superjam session in the early hours of Sunday morning.
During his first show since 2000, D’Angelo and his band thrilled with a 90-minute surprise set that included Jimi Hendrix’s “Have You Ever Been to Electric Ladyland,” Parliament Funkadelic’s “Funky Dollar Bill,” Led Zeppelin’s “What Is and What Should Never Be,” and The Beatles’ “She Came in Through the Bathroom Window.”
?uestlove hopes the warm reception will provide motivation for D’Angelo to release his new album. “I wanted him to see that,” he told the The Associated Press. “That’s a green light. Me doing it wasn’t, like, running out of jam partners. Me doing it was basically showing him, ‘Look, you are so missed you don’t even realize how much you are missed,’ hoping that this will be the adrenaline boost that will finally get him to turn his record into the label. It’s done, it’s brilliant. I played on it. I know it’s brilliant. Now it’s just time to let his kids go and show it to the world. That’s what I’m here for.”
D’Angelo toured briefly in Europe earlier this year and will play the ESSENCE Music Festival in New Orleans on July 6.